FeltSoul Media–the film production company owned by Telluride-based Ben Knight and Denver-based Travis Rummel–took home the coveted Audience Award yesterday afternoon at the 30th annual Telluride Mountainfilm festival, for their film Red Gold, about the fight to save Bristol Bay Alaska and its legendary sockeye salmon run.

According to Mountainfilm officials, some distributors think the audience award is a much better harbinger of success for a film than a juried award. Red Gold tells the story of a proposed gold mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska, and how the impact of the mine could effect the sportfishing, commercial fishing, and very lifeblood of the region.

FeltSoul previously produced the movie “The Hatch”–about the famed …

I received the following this morning from Bob White, the illustrator for John Gierach’s columns for the past  16 years. Thought many of you might find it interesting:

Above: The painting—”Quitting Early”—that illustrated John Gierach’s first Sporting Life column in Fly Rod and Reel. (March, 1992)

As some of you may know, the current issue of Fly Rod & Reel magazine marks my one-hundredth column with John Gierach. Our very first collaboration occurred twenty years ago, in July of 1988, when I illustrated his article “East Big Fish” for what was then called Rod and Reel.

After Lee Wulff’s tragic death in 1991, the editors at Rod & Reel asked John to write the magazine’s closing column, and they asked …

From the Seattle PI:

Bull trout to remain listed as threatened species in Lower 48
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bull trout should remain listed as a threatened species in the Lower 48, and some populations may be studied for additional protections under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday.

The agency announced its decision after a five-year review of the status of the fish, which is found in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Nevada.

“This maintains the status quo and provides opportunities for future considerations,” said Ted Koch, a Fish and Wildlife biologist in Boise, Idaho.

Koch said a decision will be made later this year on whether to break bull trout into five distinct populations …

Wipers—a hybrid fish between a male white bass and female striped bass—are quickly gaining a reputation as one of the hardest hitting, strongest-fighting warm-water game fish in the country. And it is now, from the end of April into mid-May and early June, that many wipers head to the creek inlets and points of our Heartland Lakes and reservoirs in order to feed on baitfish and shock anglers with their speed and power.

Wipers were first introduced into many parts of the country—Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska in particular—in the late 1970s. But it wasn’t until recent years that they’ve become the target of many flyfishers who’ve discovered the fish’s willingness to attack popular saltwater fly patterns like the …

John Gierach’s 16th book–Fool’s Paradise–hits the shelves this month, much to the delight of his legion of fans. Here’s a profile of John that first ran in The Drake magazine:

YOU’RE A CAB DRIVER in New York City in 1971, trying to make a right hand turn at a busy Manhattan intersection but there’s some cocky bike messenger in your way and he won’t move…

…so you nudge him. Not hard, just enough to let him know that you’re in a cab and he’s on a bike and if he doesn’t move and soon you might run his ass over. But the bike messenger does a strange thing. He doesn’t move out of your way. …

From Kaufmann Streamborn fly shop in Tigard, Oregon.

It’s finally here! The highly anticipated trout opener on the Lower Deschutes will kick-off this weekend. It’s one of the most anticipated weekends of the year on the Big D’.

The “upper reaches” of the Lower Deschutes, between Pelton Dam and the Northern Boundary of the Warm Springs Reservation will be open for fishing April 26th, until October 31st.

The resident “footballs” have lost some intellect as of late, this section of the river has been closed for nearly 6 months! The trout are now gorging themselves on fat 3-year old Stonefly Nymphs as well as other aquatic morsels.

f you are planning on going out to the desert to …

1 - Campeche, Yucatan, Mexico
The fish are close. The city is safe, friendly, and everything Cancun isn’t. But the biggest reason Campeche rules is that the stretch of mangrove creeks running north to Isla Arena might be the finest stretch of baby tarpon water on earth. It’s hard to believe it was only five years ago that the first outfitters began running trips here. The mix of Mayan ruins, affordable restaurants and hotels, Cathedral Plaza, snook, and endless shots at tarpon—both in the mangroves and out on the flats—makes Campeche tough to beat.

2 - Key West, Florida
If you can only pick one place…  There’s the history, the nightlife on Duval Street, the mix of large bones and …

Everybody knows how great the trout fishing can be out West in July and August. But many people miss that magic window of opportunity that

opens each April after the snow and ice come off the water but before the milky runoff happens in May and June. Not only can this be some of the clearest water to fish all season, but many trout are bigger and hungrier than those you’re casting to at the end of June. And if you’re lucky enough to hit it just right, and the weather cooperates, there are usually at least a few days of truly spectacular early-season fishing, when it’s warm enough to get some bugs hatching–usually blue wing olives …

By Bruce Ajari

for the Sierra Sun
April 4, 2008

For ardent fly fisherman there was a bit of sad news this past week. The Truckee River Outfitters (TRO) fly fishing store, open in downtown Truckee during the California general trout season, is closing its doors after seven or eight seasons.

In a move that was mindful of current economic conditions, consolidating Truckee River Outfitters with its full-time operation, the Reno Fly Shop, seemed to be in the best interest of the business.

The move surprised many regular customers and some of the local businesses as well. It was the only full-service fly shop in the Truckee-North Tahoe area.

Many of the local fly fishermen I talked to said they were sad to …

In the April issue of Outside magazine, Dave Micus from Missoula, Montana, scored a free rod from Orvis by pointing out an issue that drives many of us crazy—an unbelievably crappy cast in yet another mainstream magazine. OOPS:

The December issue of Outside had run the above photo of some guy making a backcast with a loop so loose you could back a Buick through it. Nice work, Dave. We all thank you.